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Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger yelled “money!” — a call from the bench when the shot clock is expiring.

Veteran forward Zach Randolph remained calm. He turned, sized up the defender and launched a feathery jump shot that splashed through the net from 12 feet.

The late fourth-quarter basket helped the Griz demoralize the Denver Nuggetsand solidify their 91-84 victory Friday night in FedExForum.

Randolph collected 10 of his team-high 24 points in the final quarter.

“I just got into a rhythm. The guys kept passing to me and coach kept running plays for me,” Randolph said after playing his 13th game off the bench. “I felt good out there and I definitely wanted the ball.”

Memphis (20-18) pulled away in a game that was knotted at 76 midway through the fourth quarter on the strength of Randolph’s offense and Tony Allen’s defense.

Mario Chalmers, starting in place of an injured Mike Conley, had 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Chalmers, though, connected on a couple of 3-pointers and two free throws when the Griz extended their lead in the fourth.

Conley (Achilles) and Courtney Lee (left hip contusion) sat out.

Danilo Gallinari’s 29 points paced the Nuggets, who were held to 36-percent shooting. The Griz shot just 36.6 percent and won despite losing the rebounding battle 59-43.

“Any time you shoot 36 percent it’s going to be to be tough slogging,” Griz coach Dave Joerger said. “But we only turned the basketball over eight times. … It was a good way to start the home stand and feel good about it.”

Memphis began a stretch in which it will play six consecutive home games. This one reminded the Grizzlies’ fan base why FedExForum is known as the Grindhouse.

The Griz forced 18 turnovers and allowed just seven points in the second quarter.

“We hung our hats on the defensive end, which is what pulled us through,” Allen said, adding that “this definitely showed that we can make multiple efforts and not get discouraged when teams make runs. We did a great job of holding those guys to seven points in that (second) quarter. Coach came in (at halftime) and said we made 12 stops in a row at one point. That was big.”

A Marc Gasol fadeaway basket from 12 feet put the Griz ahead for good in the fourth quarter. And then Randolph went to work on the low block to seal the deal.

“He was fantastic,” Joerger said about Randolph. “He’s an Alpha. ‘I want the ball and I’m going to score it. Bring it over here.’ That’s fantastic.”

Nuggets coach Mike Malone gave the Griz credit for controlling the tempo.

“We never created the pace that we wanted to try to create,” Malone said. “For us, it’s not just walk it up, post up, barroom brawl, which it became.”

The game was almost marred by an altercation between Chalmers and Nuggets reserve center Jusuf Nurkic. Randolph tied up Nurkic and forced a jump ball, and Nurkic took exception when Chalmers reached to grab the ball away from him.

The officials called technical fouls on both players after Chalmers and Nurkic shoved each other.

Defensive stops allowed the Griz to outlast the Nuggets’ rally in the third period. Denver put together a 17-3 run and stormed ahead 56-55 late in the period.

The Nuggets began connecting on perimeter shots. And Denver continued to get as many shots at the basket as it wanted. The flat-footed Griz watched the Nuggets tack on six offensive rebounds in the period. Denver had a 19-5 advantage on the offensive glass by the end of the third.

Memphis initially pulled away in the second period and established a 49-37 lead by halftime by not allowing Denver to score for nearly six minutes.

The Griz scored the final 12 points of the second quarter with Allen leading the defensive surge.

Allen had a steal, several deflections and a pair of dunks. Allen’s first slam during the run came after he intercepted Gallinari’s pass and raced toward the rim for an uncontested score.

Memphis took its 12-point lead when Allen darted across the lane and threw down a monster dunk off a feed from Gasol.

Allen collected three of the Grizzlies’ 10 steals.

“That’s how our team is made up,” Randolph said. “We get in the mud and play inside-out.”